The invention is directed to a foot operated starter for power lawn mowers with pull cord starter. There are several U.S. patents directed to foot operated starters; the following list of patents includes all the patents which the inventor is aware of on foot operated attachments for pulling a starter pull cord:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,850,003 Konle PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,018,768 Thompson PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,381,677 Hunter PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,274 Tarnedde
A review of the listed patents will show that while parts of the foot operated starter attachments are similar, they do not show the mechanical parts or mechanical advantage of the present invention. The patent issued to Konle, U.S. Pat. No. 2,850,003, provides a foot operated starter device which is Y-shaped and pivoted at its lowest point on the cutter blade housing. The height of the Y-shaped design and its low pivot point of the foot operated starter device makes a very large arc when pivoted. The direction of movement is first toward the operator down and back toward the mower. Therefore, the first part of the movement provides little, if any, acceleration to the starter pull cord. Further, the first movement can actually pull the lawn mower toward the operator unless an opposite force is applied. The possible movement can cause a hazard to the operator that can be avoided by the present invention.
Thompson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,018,768, discloses a foot operated starter device having a shallow V-shaped lever mounted on a short vertical support on a cutter blade housing. Due to the shallowness of the V-shaped lever, the length of the travel of the pivoted lever is relatively small. To overcome the short pivotal movement, a pulley is mounted on one end of the lever arm and the free end of the starter pull rope is tethered to the cutter blade housing, thereby increasing the length of travel of the cord, twice the length of travel of the V-shaped lever.
In Hunter, U.S. Pat. No. 3,381,677, a foot operated starter device is mounted by a bracket to the engine cover or shroud. A pivoted, U-shaped lever is pivoted to the bracket with a starter pull cord connector on the U-shaped lever. When pressure is applied to a foot pedal, the lever pivots down pulling the pull cord over a pulley on the bracket to rotate the starter. The location of the U-shaped lever, in front of the mower handle, makes it awkward to push down on the pedal without interference from the handle. Further, the only support for the starter device is the special design of the engine cover. Another engine cover without the rearwardly projection could not support the bracket adequately, and would therefore, create stresses on the cover.
The foot operated starter device in Tarnedde, U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,274, consists of a V-shaped lever comprised of a pedal arm and a plurality of leaf springs forming a pull cord arm. The leaf springs give added impulse or acceleration to the starter. The V-shaped lever is pivotally mounted on the cutter blade housing. Another embodiment shows a V-shaped lever with a pulley arrangement for doubling the length of travel of the pull cord, which increases the pulling force and acceleration of the pull cord.
Each of the above patents represents a solution for foot operated starters on lawn mowers. All of the starters are pivotal and intended to increase the acceleration of the pull cord and starter. But, in order to achieve the desired results, the cost of manufacturing is quite high. For example, the Konle starter device is made of tubing and has a plurality of bends; the bracket in Hunter requires special equipment to form the bends, and Tarnedde uses expensive leaf springs. In addition, Thompson and Hunter require pulleys and adaptions to function. The present invention is inexpensive to manufacture and is adaptable to all types of lawnmowers with pull cord starters.
The foot operated starter of the present invention provides more than sufficient pull on the starter cord to accelerate the starter mechanism. And the foot operated starter is operated without the hazard of pulling the mower toward the operator.
It is therefore the object of the foot operated starter device to provide an inexpensive device that is adaptable to all types of mowers, and at the same time will accelerate the starter mechanism without any hazard during the foot operation. These and other objects will be apparent from the drawing, written description and claims.